Help end homelessness: write to your MP to call for change 

In the run up to World Homeless Day on 10 October, we’re highlighting lots of ways you – and decision makers locally and nationally – can help people who are experiencing homelessness.

Everyone deserves a safe, secure place to call home.  Yet across Greater Manchester and Lancashire, we’re seeing more people struggle to afford a home because housing  support is not keeping pace with rising rent costs. 

In our homelessness services, we regularly meet people who are unable to move off the streets or out of temporary accommodation because they cannot find a home they can afford.

Others we support are struggling to make rent payments, falling into debt and facing the risk of homelessness for the first time. 

We are inviting you to take action by writing to your MP to call for change. 

At our services supporting people experiencing poverty and homelessness, we are increasingly hearing the same concerns: private rents are rising, but support through Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is not keeping up. 

LHA is designed to help people on low incomes who receive Universal Credit afford homes in the private rented sector.

However, LHA rates have remained frozen since 2024 and no longer reflect the reality of local rents. 

As a result, many people are being priced out of private rented housing and face impossible choices between paying rent and covering other essential living costs. 

Evidence shows that fewer than 2 per cent of homes across the country are affordable for people relying on this support, and housing costs are pushing many private renters deeper into poverty. 

The impact of this is being felt by individuals and families across our communities and change is urgently needed. Frozen LHA rates have become a significant driver of homelessness and poverty for too many people. 

While we welcome the government’s commitment to tackling rough sleeping, local people need access to genuinely affordable homes now. 

Ahead of the Autumn budget, we are calling on the government to: 

• Unfreeze LHA rates
• Uplift LHA rates so that they once again cover the cheapest 30 per cent of local private rents
• Commit to increasing rates each year in line with local rent costs. 

Change is possible when we all come together and raise our voices. 

Please join us in calling for these changes which would prevent more people from becoming homeless and falling into poverty. 

Please take a few minutes to write to your MP today. 

We have created a guide to contacting your MP and a template letter you can send to them.  

Together, we can make a difference and ensure that everyone has access to a safe, secure place to call home. 

Click here to find out how to write to your MP. 

Read more about our campaign to see an end to homelessness and find out other ways to get involved.